Can I Trust My Negative IGG Tests 20 Weeks Post Exposure and No Symptoms?

[OverthinkingMachine]

Hi Terri,

Back in May, a partner I had unprotected sex with numerous times for a little over a month told me they had tested positive for HSV2. Prior to this, I had never had unprotected sex and the partners I had been with hadn’t had sex before so it’s very unlikely she had gotten it from me. I went to get tested just under two weeks since last exposure through LabCorp and tested negative for HSV1 and positive for HSV2 with an index of 1.47 but the supplemental test was negative. The test indicated it could be a false positive because of the low index value and instructed to do confirmatory testing in 2-4 weeks. After reading online, it seemed as though the consensus was that the IGG tests are the most accurate 12+ weeks after exposure. Because of that, instead of getting retested in the 2-4 weeks, I waited 20 weeks. When I retested, the results for both HSV1 and HSV2 were negative BUT I tested through Quest the second time and not LabCorp. No index values were given the second time. Because of the original low positive with the negative supplemental test plus waiting 20 weeks post exposure for the retesting, I took the results as a true negative. I’d like to add that this entire time I had not experienced any symptoms whatsoever and that holds true. I took the first test on May 12 and the second test on October 3.

Recently, I started seeing somebody and we’ve been having sex frequently unprotected. Everything was great until this past week when they told me they had gotten a UTI (confirmed). I know it’s completely different and very common but the symptoms caused me to start overthinking about the possibility of me being a false negative. My questions are:

Can I trust my negative results despite testing through Quest the second time?

How likely do you think it is that I’m a false negative 20 weeks post exposure?

Could the supplemental have been a false negative since it was close to exposure? Does it matter?

Thank you in advance for your help.

[Terri Warren]

with 92% certainty, you can trust the negative IgG result.

Terri

[OverthinkingMachine]

Hi Terri! I believe I have a follow up question but if I need to pay again, I’d be more than happy to.

Quick recap to save you some reading.

May 2022: (2 weeks post exposure) test positive for HSV2 @ LabCorp with IGG value being 1.47 and the supplemental test was negative.

October 2022: (20 weeks post exposure) test negative for HSV2 @ Quest.

So after seeing your response about trusting the negative result with 92% certainty, I decided it wasn’t enough for my peace of mind and went to get retested. I’m not currently able to afford the blot so I got retested figuring the odds of me being in the 8% twice were low. I went back to LabCorp and my test result was equivocal with the IGG value being 0.97 and the supplemental test was negative once again. Also would like to add that I still haven’t experienced any symptoms. At this point, it’s been about 9 months post exposure. My questions are:

With my original test being positive at 1.47 to then being negative and then being equivocal at 0.97 as well as the supplemental being negative both times, do you think it’s safe to say I don’t have HSV2? Especially since the value decreased?

Labcorp is saying I should take a confirmatory test that’s more accurate/sensitive, do you think it’s necessary?

Thank you in advance for your time!

[Terri Warren]

I do think it is safe to say that you don’t have HSV 2, correct.
Do NOT DO anymore testing with labCorp.

Terri

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